a&e | FILM & TV CONT’D FROM P. 51 requested. It’s a restraint that Green Book plays with so well that the usually blasé Santa Barbara film audience couldn’t help but erupt with applause at film’s end. (JY) Paseo Nuevo If Beale Street Could Talk (117 mins., R)
Director Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) brings James Baldwin’s eponymous novel to the big screen. KiKi Layne stars as Clementine “Tish” Rivers, whose husband, Alonzo “Fonny” Hunt (Stephan James), is jailed for a crime he didn’t commit. Tish is intent on clearing her husband’s name before their baby is born. Metro 4 Mary Poppins Returns (130 mins., PG) Rob Marshall (Chicago) directs this sequel to the 1964 classic film. Set in the 1930s, two decades after the original, Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) is needed by the Banks kids, now grown but who recently suffered a great loss. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, and Emily Mortimer also star. Camino Real/Metro 4
The Mule (116 mins., R) Clint Eastwood directs and stars in this crime drama about an aged horticulturist and Korean War vet who is arrested for transporting $3 million in cocaine for a Mexican cartel. Based on Sam Dolnick’s New York Times piece “The Sinaloa Cartel’s 90-Year-Old Drug Mule,” the film also stars Bradley Cooper, Dianne Wiest, and Andy Garcia. Paseo Nuevo
counterparts from other dimensions in order to stop a threat to reality. Camino Real/Fiesta 5
A Star Is Born (135 mins., R) Bradley Cooper marks his directing debut with an ode to the 1937 romantic melodrama A Star Is Born, famously remade in 1954 with Judy Garland and James Mason and again in 1976 with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. Cooper plays famous countryrock musician Jackson Maine, whose drunken search for more alcohol leads him to a drag bar where he stumbles into Ally (Lady Gaga), an unknown singer who Jackson then mentors. Soon, Ally and Jackson enter into a romantic relationship that is often overshadowed by Jackson’s alcoholism and prescription drug abuse. As Ally takes on her self-doubt and fear of performing in front of Jackson’s sold-out crowds, she makes sacrifices in her own burgeoning career for love and authenticity. Cooper and Lady Gaga depict the rawness and erosion of their relationship so well that both actors are receiving Oscar buzz. (JR) Fiesta 5 The Upside (125 mins., PG-13) Bryan Cranston, Kevin Hart, and Nicole Kidman star in this remake of the 2011 French film The Intouchables, which is based on the life of wealthy businessman Philippe Pozzo di Borgo, who
became a quadriplegic following a paragliding accident. Camino Real/Metro 4/Paseo Nuevo
O Vice
(132 mins., R)
Adam McKay’s Vice may be the most pornographic film of the year that has nothing to do with sex. One part biopic of former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney (Christian Bale), one part satire of the past half century of American politics, Vice contains plenty of moments where one might be inclined to look away (and perhaps can’t). The film sutures an array of disturbing content, including footage from the 9/11 attacks, torture scenes from the “War on Terror,” and a lingering vision of an anesthetized Dick Cheney mid-heart transplant. The VP’s cold, dead heart lies on a metal slab; his chest cavity is empty, awaiting a fresh occupant. Even for those who might find this negative portrait of Cheney and his politics cathartic, watching Vice feels like vice indeed. Part of this emerges from Christian Bale’s convincing performance as Cheney. Other cast members provide equally stunning renderings. Vice is intense, but it ultimately passes the litmus test of compelling biographical film: One walks out of the theater wanting to confirm whether multiple scenes were actual news footage. (KM) Paseo Nuevo
JAN 25 - 29 NOMINEE FOR
10 ACADEMY AWARDS
Fri, Sun, Mon 7:30pm / Sat 2:00pm, 7:30pm
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM ACACEMY AWARD NOMINEE
Fri, Sat, Mon, Tues 5:00pm / Sun 2:00pm, 5:00pm
THEATRE WILL BE CLOSED DURING THE FILM FESTIVAL
JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 7, 2019
FOR TICKETS, VISIT WWW.SBIFF.ORG AND THE THEATRE BOX OFFICE #SBIFF
On the Basis of Sex (120 mins., PG-13) Mimi Leder (Deep Impact, Pay It Forward) helms this biopic that explores Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life and early Supreme Court justice cases. Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, and Justin Theroux star. Fairview/Paseo Nuevo
O Roma
(135 mins., R)
Alfonso Cuarón has painted a masterpiece. The rightfully acclaimed Mexican director behind Y Tu Mamá También, Children of Men, and Gravity has gone deeper and more personal with Roma, a profoundly artistic achievement and a poignant tale drawn from his own childhood in 1970s Mexico City. Shot in luminous black-and-white, and with echoes of lyrical Fellini films and neorealism, Cuarón has given the world a rare glimpse into Mexican life, with special compassion for the beloved indigenous protagonist, Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), and women’s issues. (JW)
JEWELRY AND WATCH REPAIR
Rivera (Plays Fri., Jan. 25-Sun., Jan. 28)
Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse (117 mins., PG) Marvel Comics presents this computeranimated film in which Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) becomes Spider-Man and crosses paths with his
On the Basis of Sex RAPID SERVICE ~ QUALITY WORK
805.569.3393 The above films are playing in Santa Barbara FRIDAY, January 25, through THURSDAY, January 31. Our critics’ reviews are followed by initials: JK (Janavi Kumar), KM (Kevin Moore), JR (Jasmine Rodriguez), JW (Josef Woodard), and JY (Jean Yamamura). The symbol O indicates the film is recommended. The symbol ➤ indicates a new review.
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